Ripple
by MiyuTanemura
Summary: "Gray notices there's a missing piece." Natsu/Gray. WWTDP event. Week 2, day 1.


A/N: For day 1 of week 2 of the When We Take Different Paths event; the prompt was "scars".

* * *

 **Ripple**

At first it was something that went unnoticed.

But that didn't take long to change.

All because of an ankle starting to hurt, the pain _zinging_ up his leg.

Gray was finally home when he let himself see the reason behind the pain.

And there it was, on the inside of his right leg, by the ankle. A large and thick patch of skin, a scar. It went from the slight protuberance of the ankle and spanned four finger widths upwards. The skin was tough and slightly discoloured, the edges uneven and seemed to sport an oval shape.

Gray let the tips of his fingers map this foreign skin. As expected, when he moved his foot the skin pulled and a _zing_ of pain ran up his leg.

 _Why the fuck am I able to walk, then?_ He wondered, as it seemed that it only pulled the skin to painful levels when he wasn't moving. Then, another thought struck – a thought that was so important he could punch himself for not having it first.

 _How and when did I get this?_

Gray flopped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling despondently.

Something nagged at him.

Something _was_ missing.

"What's missing?" he asked the empty room.

Silence was his only answer.

#

That weird feeling was still there with him, a heavy cloak on his shoulders, when he got to the guild on the next day.

Lucy and Erza were sitting at their usual table.

For a moment there was a flare, right before Gray, but nothing changed. The girls welcomed him with the usual teasing about him sleeping in.

And _that_ felt empty.

That feeling settled heavily on his mind.

It wasn't right.

Something had changed and he needed to find out what it was.

Looking gravely at his friends, Gray began.

"Have you noticed something strange? Like… as if something's missing?" Gray looked closely at his friends, noticing the startled expressions.

Erza was frowning, her fingers tapping a strange melody on the wooden table, it was strange yet somehow, it felt familiar. "I… I think you might be onto something."

"You're right." Lucy added, "it's like there isn't enough noise?" she ended by tilting her head to the side, confused.

"It's like it's slightly colder."

"And cleaner."

"And there's no yelling."

"Or punching."

"And it's less _fun_." Gray concluded. "I think we need to talk to the Master because this doesn't sound good."

#

After seeing the Master – who agreed with them and gave them the clue to their next step – the team went on its way. Towards the house of the person he thought could help them.

And here they were, standing before a cabin that seemed to almost being engulfed by the surrounding forest.

The short, grumpy man who greeted them was suspicious. Until the moment they mentioned Makarov.

Apparently the Master's team had helped Gyro's village and he owed him a debt of gratitude.

"Okay. So, what's the matter?" he asked after he had led them inside the cabin. It was a darkened space, the walls covered by veils, seeming to be hiding something. Some of the vegetation seemed to have entered through a window, creating odd intricate patterns on the ceiling and walls; making it so that the stone sconces went unnoticed, letting out fuzzy lighting. They were led to the area by the lit fireplace, where a table was surrounded by chairs. He sat at the table. They followed and were able to inspect the table closer. The table's surface seemed to be covered in a grey fluid, reflecting everything all around it, almost like a mirror.

"We've noticed that there's something strange going on." Erza started.

"And also," Gray quickly took off his shoe and sock and pulled up the pants leg, baring the scar. "I would like to know where this came from too."

The girls gasped in surprise. Gray hadn't mentioned the scar at any point yet.

Gyro stood from his chair and knelt before Gray, inspecting it. He then propped the foot on the edge of the table, for a closer perusal of the scar.

"Ohohohohoh," he said before whistling, "this is some high quality work here. I don't think there are many _omals_ out there who have what it takes to create such a ripple…" he mused, standing.

Behind him the grey fluid rippled and sloshed slightly.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, suspicious. "What are you talking about?"

"What is this scar?" Gray said gravely.

"That scar is the key to the mental and emotional scar you've gotten. And I mean _all_ of you." His hand made an all-encompassing motion, the rings in his fingers gleaming in the low light.

"You didn't explain what that means." Erza stated, sitting ramrod straight on her chair.

"Something is gone." Gyro said.

"We know that already." Gray shot back in exasperation. He removed his foot from the edge of the table and the action of placing it on the floor made him have to quash the pained expression that wanted to emerge.

"Yes but," Gyro looked into Gray's eyes, an odd twinkle in his own eyes, and asked, "do you know that it's a person?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That's impossible!"

"That's ridiculous!"

"It can't be." Gray muttered in disbelief.

"But it is. And _you_ ," he poked sharply on Gray's sternum, "you are the key. Both the reason for it and the way to change it."

"I can't..." Gray shook his head in denial.

"No. Not many can. Or want to. Maybe there is a good reason to leave it here. In that case, tell Makarov I'm done. Oh, and not to forget that he has to pay a round of the good stuff at the next meeting."

"Wait!" The three mages said in unison.

"Is there something that can be done to undo whatever it was that took that person away?" Erza asked.

"Yes." Was the simple reply.

"Then we want that person back."

"Are you sure?" Gyro asked, scratching behind his ear.

"Yes." They replied, again, together.

"Even if it will be painful?" And now he was directing his question straight at Gray.

"I feel like I have to try." Was the ice mage's reply. He wasn't looking at the others, instead looking down at his hands. _It's not like I would forgive myself if I didn't try. This is important, somehow._

"Well then. Let's get ready for this. Would you mind waiting here?" he asked the girls.

They exchanged a look before agreeing. They didn't have anything to lose.

And so, it was time.

#

So far Gray wasn't terribly impressed. They'd gone to a room at the end of a short corridor. Once inside, Gray had been instructed to sit on the floor in the middle of the room.

Then strange fumes started to waft from certain places on the walls.

They had different colours; red, orange, green and purple.

And Gray's right leg was stretched before him. Gyro seemed to be focusing on the scar.

Gray started falling under a spell.

His eyes closed and he hummed an unfamiliar song.

The same Erza had been tapping some days earlier.

And he was out like a light.

#

He saw himself with the girls and an indistinct form on their last mission.

So this was who was missing?

It was just a blurred shape. Gray had rubbed his eyes to see more clearly but to no avail.

Everything was going normally until the appearance of a tall and lanky man who was grinning wickedly.

His words sounded as if he was speaking underwater.

And then the blurry shape stood in front of Gray and the girls – the three of them seemed to be frozen in place for some reason. Something was undoubtedly said because the shape seemingly turned to Gray and placed a hand on his arm.

A grinning, familiar, face framed by pink hair blinked into Gray's consciousness before disappearing.

The shape then moved and everything became fuzzy. All of a sudden the edges of the room started disappearing, like mist under morning's sunlight.

In the blink of an eye Gray found himself standing on an indistinct space.

Everything was grey, from the floor of what comprised the ground to the sky. The horizon was just a grey blur.

Or, not.

Underfoot there was a fissure. Light that was as red as lava emitted from the several cracks in the large fissure. Then they seemed to be knitting themselves, as if dark thread was being woven through the grey fabric.

And all of a sudden, it looked like his scar – like the scar on his ankle.

 _What is going on?_ he wondered in bewilderment.

"That was the agreement." Said a foreign yet familiar voice. As Gray turned to the side he came to stand before the fuzzy figure. "It's taking you a lot to remember, hm, ice brain?"

The cheekiness of the voice made Gray's brow twitch in annoyance.

"Why you-!" he yelled into the suddenly empty space.

He was alone again.

#

Gray's eyes snapped open and he gasped. After, he started coughing. He could hear Gyro say "That was stronger than I expected. We need to find a better course of action" from above.

Gray closed his eyes and let himself collapse on the floor. He was exhausted.

But he was certain that he had to get to the bottom of it.

He just _had_ to.

* * *

A/N: TBC. Or maybe not…

Yeah, it's probably better to stop here.  
Hope the readers enjoyed.

A big thanks to everyone over at the FT LGBTales discord. And to mdelpin for the beta.


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